Kind and Opinionated are not Mutually Exclusive

I’ve been in enough scenarios with people to realize the following pattern: sometimes people confuse kindness for weakness.

Many times I have been told I am a kind person. I know that I am kind as well. But being kind does not mean that I have to take whatever shit people throw at me. Being kind does not mean that I don’t have strong opinions. Being kind definitely does not restrict me from speaking out my thoughts and call people out on their bullshit. Only when I do this, I become ‘disliked’.

I’m at the point where I don’t mind being disliked for being me anymore. I am kind by choice and I love it, but this does not mean that I cannot be opinionated. I have a voice and I’ll use it often. I’ll use it to express myself, to speak my thoughts, to stand for justice and definitely stand for myself. There are things that this Juneal will not tolerate, despite the fact that I love being kind to people. If I must stop you from crossing a line, I will. If I have to speak up, I will. If you are directing yourself in a disrespectful way to me, I won’t hesitate to tell you. If you continue with your behavior, don’t be surprised to see me walk away without hesitating. Boundaries are important.

You reading this, know that being kind and soft does not mean that you cannot speak up. Be kind and speak up, always. It was the people that dared to speak up, as kind as they were, that made differences in the course of history. It was the people that as quiet as they were, knew how to voice their opinion, that changed the world in their time.

Be kind, be soft, be bold and be opinionated. We can be all that simultaneously.